[ Matt feels bad as soon as he says it, because the words definitely did not come out as breezy as he'd hoped they would. And taking in Daniel's reaction, he feels even worse. The ugly sort of vulnerable. He, too, doesn't usually have these types of conversations in such close quarters. (Normally he has them with himself, while the other party is in a different zip code.) He and Daniel don't know each other that well, really; he probably has had a lot going on, none of it having to do with Matt. He probably-- ]

Oh.

[ In soft surprise, as Daniel pushes up the dark shades to reveal eyes that gleam in the dark. Daniel reaches for Matt's hand, and Matt realizes that at least some of the disconnect he's been feeling between them, the distance--even if he didn't understand it until now--is because Daniel is different. Physically different. His eyes with their new ember gold, his cool and untrembling fingers. Matt frowns at him, gaze raking over him from head to foot. ]

No ... that's okay. [ After how hard he tried to give Daniel the runaround their first few months here, Matt can't exactly complain. ] Ah, it's a big adjustment where I come from, and that's ... where I come from it's not anywhere near the kind of shift it is for you.